

■336 



IB ? 



Town. 



Causes of Business Depressions 



HB 3727 
.B86 
Copy 1 



OR 



Speculations' Sequence 

By JOHN BENJAMIN BROWN 




CAUL. PRINTING CO M P A N Y cs^Sx* E A S T ST. LOUIS. ILLINOIS 






©CI. A 3 5 91 



CAUSES OF BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS 



m 
***** 



q\ f§\ ^\ 



USINESS depressions are caused by enforced 
*' K ** underconsumption by labor, following as a 
* O i result of high-priced products, induced by 
speculation in lands. 

II Through unjust, inequitable and monopo- 
listic land laws, permitting private property 
in lands, individual ownership of lands, 
labor is denied equal opportunity of access 
thereto whereon to independently produce the necessary 
means of independent existence. 

Before the days of invention and factories, land 
monopoly resulted, as to-day, in tying the hands of labor. 
Labor, being without free access to the lands, was specu- 
lated both in and upon by the landholders. 

This speculation, operated through the exaction of 
land rental charges from the non-land-owners, also oper- 
ated through the enforced acceptance by these landless 
persons of an unjust wage system wherein labor was 
paid only a portion of the value of the product which 
labor alone produced. Labor, being denied ready access 
to lands whereon to produce, m ust agree to such exploi- 
tation or starve. 

A third system of land speculations develop through 
the sale of lands, the sale value being wholly based on 
the number of landless persons requiring lands whereon 
to produce the means of existence. 



CAUSES OF BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS. 



Ownership of lands also carries ownership of prod- 
ucts. Herein lies an additional opportunity to specu- 
late off of the necessities of the non-land-owners through 
an arbitrary profit exacted through the sale of products 
to all of those without the means of producing the same; 
all products being derived from lands. Our present land 
laws operate to create a large non-owning class. 

In addition to these advantages held by the land- 
owning class over the non-land-owniug class is opened 
wide the doors of opportunity for further plucking — ■ 
through exacting interest for the use of money. This 
is a direct misuse of the purpose of money, which is a 
medium of exchange of product for product. Labor per- 
formed is a product. The product of that labor is a 
certificate or evidence of production. For convenience 
this is exchanged for another certificate — called money. 
Interest on money originated through the monopoly of 
the means of production — the lands. 

Through various causes of inability to work, misfor- 
tuns, sickness and also enforced unemployment of many 
out of the vast numbers of non-land-owners wherein they 
must acquire means of existence or starve. Out of this, 
condition was our system of interest invented — a most 
holy(?) graft. Money, being a certificate of production, 
interest on money can be nothing other than usury, even 
though legalized by unholy statutes. 

With a greater number of the entire population be- 
ing without lands (this has prevailed for several thou- 
sand years), for the reason that unjust and inequitable 
laud laws have ever prevailed, those without land have 
always been objects of exploitation through rent profits 
— wage profits — interest profits and profits from the 
very products which labor created for the land owner, 
but could have created for itself had an equitable sys- 



OR SPECULATIONS' SEQUENCE. 



tem been provided to give labor an equal opportunity to 
acquire access to the lands. 

The non-land-owning class, knowing their disadvan- 
tage and realizing the series of speculations engaged in 
by the land owning class has ineffectually made efforts 
to amend the laws, and failing have sought relief by 
acquiring by purchase (the only way sanctioned by the 
land-owning-law-making class) such lands as the owners 
may consent to sell; thereby endeavoring to escape 
'•wage speculation" or "rent speculation," as well as 
"product speculation," and, possibly, "money interest 
speculation." Each also having a desire to become a 
land-owning speculator in turn at the first opportunity, 
though rarely realized. 

This unending demand for land by the non-possess- 
ors thereof created the final opportunity for the last 
grand speculation by the land owners, and this is real- 
ized in the final sale price, such sale price being wholly 
based upon the number of landless applicants or sup- 
plicants clamorous for lands. 

This clamor to escape such grafting speculatons 
frequently warranted the landless class in agreeing to 
pay interest on the deferred payment. In this manner 
is interest firmly though unrighteously established. It 
being wholly intrenched in our monopolistic land tenure 
laws, its spread is but a natural consequence. 

In considering monopoly of lands, such monopoly 
in order to prove extremely injurious to mankind need 
uot necessarily extend to all lands, but only to desirable 
lands. Desirable lands must be inhabitable and produc- 
tive, as well as accessible to other human habitations, 
markets and supplies, all of which are inseparable in 
making human life wholesome, desirable and companion- 
able. Human life cannot be complete, nor can human 



CAUSES OF BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS. 



welfare advance without these environs. If mere exist- 
ence of a few were the desireratum, complete — not half — 
cannibalism should be the acme sought. 

In later years, with the advent of manufacturing 
and production on a large scale, and with our land laws 
remaining the same as in the Middle Ages, all non-land- 
owning labor, which formerly had necessarily sought 
employment from the land owning class — the only em- 
ployers in existence — now sought employment in mills, 
factories, mines, stores, etc., there to be speculated in, 
as on lands, through the wage system. 

Wherever the employment required extreme skill 
or ability those few qualifying could, and did, exact a 
lessening amount of speculation off of their individual 
services by way of higher wage demands. 

Those with less skill resorting to labor unions for 
semi-protection. 

Those without skill and unorganized being wholly 
helpless, as witness women, children and plain laborers. 
The competition for business, on the other hand, by the 
employer,, renders him powerless to increase wages un- 
less the wage workers can enforce such advance in gen- 
eral, which, owing to our land laws, makes such inde- 
pendent action by labor inoperative — the lands not hav- 
ing been freed. 

With the advent of manufacturing on a large scale, 
the land laws being the mainstay of interest, those hav- 
ing accumulated money readily saw vast opportunities 
to monopolize and speculate in lands containing ores, 
oils, mineral, stone, marble, clay, wood; and, in fact, 
everything which humans need and use. By possessing 
the supply of raw materials through the use <>f accumu- 
lated money, also to build factories and thus produce 
many necessities, luxuries and utilities, the avenue to 



OR SPECULATIONS' SEQUENCE. 



further speculate in money, products and labor became 
vastly extended. With all these changes operating in 
favor of further speculation, labor became more helpless 
than before. 

Factory production, began in a small way, grad- 
ually became concentrated into the hands of those pos- 
sessing the greatest amount of money wherewith to pos- 
sess the means affording the greatest opportunities of 
speculation. Competition forcing the issue and land 
monopoly and hand-tied labor being the tools of exploi- 
tation. Thus the tools are used in their own exploitation. 

Beginning first with production: Competition is 
forcing, and accumulated money is clamoring to, and is 
rapidly extending to distribution of products on the 
same large scale. 

Thus the small business speculator who was first 
driven to small shop keeping and hand manufacturing, 
though the ancient operation of inequitable laud laws is 
again finding the door of opportunity nearly closed. 

Monopolj T of money being even more injurious to 
the welfare of the people than is monopoly of lands. 
For the reason that for such time as speculation in lands, 
products, labor and interest is permitted those possess- 
ing vast amounts of money will so invest it. Each addi- 
tional investment speculation taking so much more from 
the productive earnings of the masses. 

A small minority represents the speculating class, 
while the vast majority is the object of such specu- 
lations. 

All products come from land, causing constant de- 
sires to possess land in order to produce and speculate, 
as well as desires of a multitude to escape exploitation 
through the rental and wage systems. This causes land 
values to constantly rise. High priced land compel high 



CAUSES OF BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS. 



priced products from the lauds, for the reasou that all 
values are estimated ou an interest percent basis. 

With labor sadly handicapped and unable to in- 
crease wages in a relative proportion with advancing 
living expenses — product values — due to land specula- 
tions, labor must retrench in its expenditures. Or, in 
other words, the dollar not buying as much products as 
formerly, labor must spend its money for necessities 
and less for factory produced utilities, and none for 
luxuries, including farm product luxuries. Therefore 
factory production is first to experience an overproduc- 
tion: which, in reality, is underconsumption by labor. 

Closing factories releases employed labor. This 
still further tends to reduce factory products and farm 
products' consumption, also compelling labor to buy 
only the cheapest necessities. Closing factories and un- 
employment of labor frightens money. It hides away — 
will no longer seek further speculation at interest under 
uncertain business conditions, even on ordinarily good 
security. 

Frightened money stops all business, land, build- 
ing, factory and other speculations. 

Enforced underconsumption by labor, thereby caus- 
ing falling product values, being the primary cause of 
all disturbances; thereby operating to reduce highly 
speculated land rallies and farm values. 

Frightened money adds to the chaos by stopping all 
further speculation, causing reductions in all values. 
Underconsumption, frightened money, closing factories, 
stoppage of speculations, falling product values, all 
working in unison, each crowding and pulling down the 
other, results in lowering land rallies, /and values being 
the principal basis of all speculations on account of 
being considered safer, sounder, more impervious to 



OR SPECULATIONS' SEQUENCE. 



weather conditions, theft, rot and decay, as well as con- 
tributing the means of all human existence. 

This reaction will not cease until land values have 
fallen below their actual productive value and equally 
far below all future speculative values. 

All the money that labor could save would but add 
impetus to higher land values, to be followed by a more 
extensive and severe crash. 

Therefore economical living by labor and all others 
would be ineffective in preventing business depressions 
due to speculation and particularly to land speculations 
made possible by land monopoly. 

Wtfienever land values have reached such low prices 
as to show evidence of being no lower, speculation in 
lands will again resume; but not before many farm and 
city properties have had mortgage foreclosures and sales 
far below their former speculative and equally actual 
values, carrying ruin to all classes, including business 
men, tenant farmers and those possessing encumbered 
farms. Whereupon a resumption of speculation in 
lands will gradually begin and continue for a like period 
of years as before; heretofore constituting from about 
seventeen to twenty years ; whereupon another crash is 
inevitable. Observe the period of depression from 1892 
to 1896 from this cause. Beginning twenty-one years 
ago and ending seventeen years ago. 

Unless bolstered up by increased speculative activ- 
ity, such as extraordinarily large crops, opiates and nos- 
trums administered in the way of tariffs and higher tar- 
iffs, inspired publication of speculative creating articles 
or by increased money circulation — all calculated to, 
and operating to, temporarily ward off the impending 
and inevitable crash. 

Under our speculative and monopolistic land laws, 



10 CAUSES OF BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS. 

operating to tie the hands of labor from independent 
production, labor's wage cannot advance in exact pro- 
portion to the price of products which labor consumes; 
and as product prices must follow land prices, it is quite 
evident that these periodical re-adjustments of values 
must take place and will continue to do so until such 
time as the original cause is removed — i. e., land specu- 
lation. Land speculation, by creating the opportunity 
for these other speculations, is the parent of most all of 
the poverty for several thousand years. 

Monopolistic land laws, by tieing the hand of many, 
thereby creates- the unjust opportunity of speculating in 
their labor on the lands, operating through the wage 
system; and equally creates the same unjust opportun- 
ity wherever labor seeks employment, be it in mines, 
mills, factories, stores or elsewhere. 

Land monopoly, by permitting speculations therein, 
also permits of speculation in products. These specula" 
tions provide the way for enforced speculation in labor 
— against labor's will — and equally pave the way for 
speculation in money (interest). Add to this, specula- 
tion in specially granted privileges, such as land grants, 
water grants, franchises, corporate laws for the assem- 
bly of money, all producing the one product — money; 
which in turn is used for all maimer of further specu- 
lations in each and all of these, at one and the same 
time. Thus completing a complete circle of specula- 
tions from which the non-speculating class — the class 
being speculated upon — can find no means of escape. 
It is this system of speculations that has completely 
wrecked the economic welfare of every nation that has 
ever been established. Therefore, unerringly all of the 
sources of productiveness must be slowly and gradually 
absorbed and gathered into the maw of that ever dimin- 
ishing class enjoying ever increasing opportunities of 



OR SPECULATIONS' SEQUENCE. 11 

additional speculations off of the ever increasing ex- 
ploited class. This is made possible by the increasing 
sums of money constantly being concentrated from these 
ever increasing aggregate of monopolies continuously 
annexing additional ones, until finally, through enforced 
poverty of the masses, civilization has failed. 

The reason of this history of nations lies In the fact 
that the speculating class has ever possessed and never 
relinquished the power of making and enforcing the 
laws, and, as a consequence, have always made such 
laws in their own interest. 

MINORITY-MADE LEGAL LAWS VS. MORAL 
JUSTICE 

Are not the following laws unjust? 

Laws creating unequal opportunity to any person. — 
Laws denying one the means of providing an existence. 
— Laws creating a helpless class; thereby causing pov- 
erty, distress, uneasiness, depression, oppression and 
loss of the product of labor, effort and persistence. — 
Laws permitting toll exactions from the law-made help- 
less class. All of these conditions may be observed in 
our present and past monopolistic land laws. 

And again : Laws creating the opportunity to ex- 
tort, and thereafter permitting extortion of a law-made 
helpless class. This condition may be observed in our 
land laws and our interest laws, both of which create 
and re-create opportunity for speculation in both Prod- 
ucts and Labor. 

Owing to our enormous factory output and to land 
monopoly permitting monopoly of supplies of raw ma- 
terials off the lands, thereby permitting unusual specu- 
lation therein, as well, as in the sale price of the prod- 
ucts manufactured therefrom, this monopolistic specu- 



AUG 7b 1913 

12 CAUSES OP BUSINESS DEPRESSIONS. 

lation in raw material and finished products, which are 
frequently accelerated by combines, etc., is equally re- 
sponsible for high prices as is farm land monopoly; 
and is equally responsible for continuous re-acting per- 
iods of "business depressions," as well as being equally 
guilty of and responsible for enforced labor speculation. 
Thereby further providing the opportunity for in- 
creased speculation in money. All of which tends to 
further reduce labor-wages" purchasing power, which 
practically stands still, while the necessities which labor 
must buy is constantly being advanced in value. When 
this condition becomes sufficiently acute, a gradual re- 
duction in consumption sets in which finally ends in an 
enforced stoppage of all but bare necessities. This is 
the first step towards a general re-adjustment of values 
to be attended by the customary chaotic conditions, un- 
necessarily made-by-law unavoidable. 

It is this system of speculation that has completely 
wrecked the economic welfare <»f every nation estab- 
lished. It is responsible for what is termed unending 
class wars, which must continue until such time as the 
majority assumes complete control of all law making 
and all law enforcement. Should this majority err, one 
may depend upon that majority to quickly take notice 
and to rectify the mistake, else that majority suffer the 
consequences-, this being quite improbable for any length 
of time. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 966 604 5 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



II nil 1 1 ill mi in in in mill! ill 
013 966 604 5 # 



